Need advice...bandsaw power for cutting green rounds and resawing

I have a 14” Delta bandsaw with a riser block to clear 12” and quickly realized with a 3/4hp motor that wasn’t going to have enough power to cut any significant amount of wet wood. I have collected a large inventory of rounds over the last year or so and wanted to start cutting them this Winter into planks and turning blanks.

I’ve been reading as many reviews as I can and want to keep the purchase under $2,000.00. The Jet 18” with a 3 hp motor seems like a good fit for me.

But do any of you LJers out there have experience cutting near max height with green wood on this machine? Is the 3 hp motor strong enough to handle a large amount of wet wood cutting? Will the abuse of cutting out blanks and planks effect the finesse, of course with changing to an appropriate blade, to perform delicate resaw work? Am I looking in the right direction, or am I going to have to take the bullet and look at a more powerful machine?

All advice welcome, I would like to know if I should continue in this direction as I heard Jet is having a 15% sale sometime around Thanksgiving.

3 comments so far

Jet 18” with a 3 hp motor is a good investment . I don’t have any experience with the band saw but as what I’ve hear It is a powerful machine and seems to loaf along, fearing no wood types or thickness.

-- "someone has to be wounded for others to be saved, someone has to sacrifice for others to feel happiness, someone has to die so others could live"

I have a 24” with a 5 hp motor. I think a 3 hp will be taxed to the limit. You will need to use a standard steel blade and never a carbide toothed one for green wood. A 3 hp will probably do OK for short runs of 12”, but not for continued use.

I have a jet saw that just like your saw. I replace the motor with a 1 1/2 hp and a four groove pulley with a segmented belt the things a different saw its awesome. i bought a old table saw off craigslist for 50 dollars with the 1 1/2 hp motor so i think with the belt and pulley i had about eighty five dollars invested.